Shadow chancellor, John McDonnell to speak at “Building Fighting Unions in the era of Jeremy Corbyn” conference, Saturday 12 November

10 October 2016

Unite the Resistance is very pleased to announce that John McDonnell MP will be speaking at the “Building Fighting Unions in the era of Jeremy Corbyn” conference we are hosting on Saturday 12 November.

WORKSHOPS AND FORUMS ON: • Trade unions in the age of Corbyn: strategies to win • How do we organise against the anti-union laws? • Migrant workers welcome: Here to stay, here to fight • Organising the unorganised and the fight for £10 an hour • How can our unions mobilise to defend public services? • Trade unions, Labour and building the social movements

RMT calls major escalation of strikes on Southern Trains: 11-13 and 18-20 October, 3-5 November, 22 & 23 November and 6-8 December

The RMT is continuing its fight with Govia Thameslink Railway and Southern Trains to “Keep the Guard on the Train”. Train guards are set to strike again in a series of 72 and 48 hour strikes – a serious escalation of the dispute. There will be picket lines at Victoria station and Brighton station from early, but 8-9am is a good time to get down there.

The RMT has also called a protest and public meeting in Parliament on Tuesday 1 November in support of Southern conductors and against Driver Only Operation.

Protest demonstration outside the House of Parliament start 12.30-1.30 pm

Southern’s appalling mismanagement of the train service has also seen large passenger protests at Brighton and Victoria stations. Following the revelation that Southern made £99 million profit, the Tories have handed over another £20 million of taxpayers money!

Jeremy Corbyn has rightly called for renationalisation of the service.

A speaker from the dispute will be speaking at the forthcoming Unite the Resistance conference, book here

Back County Durham teaching assistants Some 1700 Teaching Assistants in County Durham are set to ballot for strikes following a proposed 23 percent cut in their pay by the Labour-run council. Megan Charlton from the dispute will be speaking at the forthcoming Unite the Resistance conference (book here)

Rush messages of support to the TA’s at spartacusannie@gmail.com

Solidarity with Hull College UCU Staff at Hull College will walk out next Thursday (13 October) in an increasingly bitter row over redundancies at the college.

The one day strike has been announced in response to proposals which could see up to 142 staff lose their jobs.

Following the strike, members of the University and College Union (UCU) at the college will also begin working to contract, which means they will refuse to work beyond their normal hours or during their breaks, and won’t undertake any voluntary duties.

New “Blacklisted” film from Reel News A new documentary on the story of the blacklist has been produced by Tom Wood from Reel News you can view it here

Dave Smith and Phil Chamberlain’s book on the blacklist “Blacklisted” is now available in a substantially extended, updated edition, with new information and pictures. You can order it here: info@bookmarksbookshop.co.uk

Dave Smith will be speaking at the Unite the Resistance conference on 12 November (Bookhere)

Stand up to Racism conference this Saturday 8 October The Tory Party conference has seen a real ratcheting up of the anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies. Saturday’s Stand Up to Racism conference will be a crucial staging post in the building of a strong anti-racist movement in Britain in support of refugees, in defence of migrant workers and against Islamophobia.

Join Jeremy Corbyn at this major national conference bringing together speakers, organisations and activists from anti-racist campaigns across Europe.

The conference will examine the current struggle against racism in Britain and beyond such as the fight against Islamophobia and antisemitism, defending civil liberties and migrants rights and building solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter movement in the US.

Solidarity with the Ritzy cinema workers Cinema workers at Brixton’s Ritzy cinema have been forced to strike again in their ongoing fight for a Living Wage. On Saturday 24 September their solid strike shut the cinema down. And on Friday 7 October they are on strike again. A full programme of action planned for the day is available here.

National demonstration for Education Saturday 19 November The National Union of Students (NUS) and the University and College Union (UCU) have called a November national demonstration in central London. Set for Saturday 19 November, the demonstration – ‘United For Education’ – will represent a rallying call for free, accessible and quality further and higher education across the UK, and to demand an end to the marketisation of university and college education. Read on here